Not quite “The Thomas Crown Affair,” a woman visiting the Neues Museum in Nürnberg, Germany, mistakenly filled in the blanks on a crossword puzzle-looking piece valued at more than $88,000, according to media reports.

JACK LOECHNER at Media Post shared some powerful data about the nature of a rewarding experience. Marketers too often focus on the customer actions they want without really understanding the values that drive those behaviors.

The resulting gaps impact sales results and brand engagement. The good news is that with a slight shift in perspective, marketers can gain the confidence that the customer actions they want can be predictably and reliably delivered. Read more about customers and What Are They Really Thinking?

I have seen this play out in the retail environment where products require a more education before the customer can fully appreciate the true value proposition of the products. In one case study we were able to boost engagement and sales to the tune of 40,392 units to 813,892 units in only two months.

We were able to crack the code for those customers. Results are often unprecedented.

So once you know what your why is all about, you can focus on your customers. One of the best ways to do that is to Build an empathy map of your customers, clients. This is a powerful exercise and it’s often uncanny how close you can come without any other market research. If you do verify your empathy map with research or focus groups, you’ll have highly relevant data. If you do or don’t verify with focus groups, revisiting the empathy map regularly to revise or refine is essential if it’s to remain a useful tool.

Once you build an empathy map of your ideal customer it informs the steps to be taken that implement your customer engagement strategies. If you’ve done this much, your chances of producing relevant results for both sides of the bargain.are pretty good. That’s something to build on.

Asking questions is part of how we’re wired so why not ask really good ones? The best advice I have on the subject is to really be present when listening to the responses..

Thanks to Elaine Starling author of Why 5% Succeed for a really useful way to leverage opportunities and energize business practices. You can accomplish anything. You are unlimited and incredibly resourceful!!!

Have a blast writing about your projects and you’ll be totally energized for an amazing 2016!!

How the project will benefit YOU.– What skills will you practice or learn?
– Who might you meet because of this project?
– How might you be positioned socially and professionally because of this project?
– How do you FEEL as you write about this project?
– How long will it take you to complete this project? If it took all year, is it worth it?
– Can you automate this project at some point?
– Is the impact of this project ongoing or a onetime burst?

How the project will benefit OTHERS.– Who will benefit?
– How might they benefit?
– How could it change their lives and the lives of those they know?
– Is the impact of this project ongoing or a onetime burst?

How the project will benefit the WORLD.– What might the ripple effect look like? How would it spread?
– How might the world change because of this project? (Imagine the most AMAZING results EVER!!)

When you’re done writing, put it away for 24 hours. Then re-read what you wrote and stack the pages with the most impactful on top. You can rate them from 1 to 10 if you want to, but it’s really based on how you FEEL as you review what’s possible.

Understanding the thoughts, emotions, motivations and needs of the audience a business serves is often a series of questions. These questions are a starting place.

The key to success is listening to the answers and taking action. That way the questions continually engage the audience and the level of feedback you gain helps to optimize how you operate your business

Empathy Map Questions

· What are your customer’s concerns?

· What are your customer’s real feelings?

· Is your customer happy with your product/service?

· How does your customer react to _________________?

· Is your customer angry or upset about your product/service?

· What are your customer’s dreams and aspirations?

· What are your customer’s preoccupations?

· What really counts with your customer?

· What are your customer’s fears?

· Who is your ideal customer?

· What do they think about during the day?

· Are they feeling stressed? Relaxed?

· What other factors are they wondering about during a typical day?

· Do they hate their job? Love their job?

· What is their core yet unexpressed priorities?

· What causes an emotional reaction for them?

· What are their dreams and goals?

· What worries keep them up at night?

STEP TWO: What does the person HEAR? What Friends Say, What the Boss Says, What Influencers Say

· What channel does your customer use the most?

· Is your customer easily influenced?

· What influences your customer?

· Who influences your customer?

· Through which channel does your customer get their information?

· Does your customer listen to family and friends?

· Is your customer more influenced by peers and co-workers?

· What music do they listen to?

· What “self talk” goes through their head?

· What kind of ideas, information and opinions are being shared with your target customer by their friends and family?

· What kind of things do they hear at work?

· Who are the people they are most influenced by?

· What are the mediums and tactics used to influence them?

STEP THREE: What the person SEES: Environment, Friends, What the Market Offers

· How does your customer interact with their environment?

· What does your customer’s environment look like?

· Is your customer more in a private environment or a public environment?

· How does your customer respond in a private environment?

· How does your customer respond in a public environment?

· What is your customer exposed to on a daily basis?

· What problems does your customer face within their environment?

· Are they highly visual?

· Are they looking for great design or content?

· What do they see?

· What does their environment consist of?

· Who are the other individuals who form a part of the customer’s environment?

· What kind of product offerings do they see?

· What kind of issues and challenges do they usually have?

STEP FOUR: What does the person SAY and DO? Attitude in Public, Appearance, Behavior Towards Others

· What does your customer say to others?

· How does your customer respond to others?

· What are your customer’s actions after a conversation?

· Does what your customer says match what your customer does?

· How does your customer portray themselves in front of peers?

· Does your customer influence others with their actions?

· Does your customer influence others with their words?

· What information does your customer hold back from others?

· What information does your customer repeat to others?

· What are they telling others?

· What actions are they taking on a day-to-day basis?

· What is their behavior when they are surrounded by people?

· What, according to them, are their priorities?

· What is the gap between what they express and their actual actions?

· Do they act as influencers and opinion leaders for others?

· Place direct quotes from your customers HERE.

STEP FIVE: PAIN – Fears, Frustrations, Obstacles

· What are your customer’s pain points?

· What does your customer fear the most?

· What does your customer fear the least?

· What kinds of frustrations does your customer face on a daily basis?

I love seeing ‘best of’ examples of anything. I especially love the breakdowns of the nuts and bolts that short cut the time it takes to make all the same mistakes that led to the results being showcased. It makes it possible to implement at a more advanced stage.